


Rules

by Chryselis



Series: We are Perfect [1]
Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Comfort, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, Hugs, M/M, Other, Protective Venom Symbiote (Marvel), Slice of Life, eddie is just chicken, humans have rules damnit, symbrock if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 15:52:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16663750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chryselis/pseuds/Chryselis
Summary: It didn't take very long after reuniting for Eddie and Venom to establish ground rules around their cohabitation. A whole edifice of rules actually, rules on rules holding up more rules, stacked so high the pile would take them back to the comet Venom came from, if they kept going the way they were. In fact, Eddie thinks to himself, keeping Venom in check has made him realise how very obsessed with rules humans are. Society, he supposes. That's exactly what it is. Rules to keep humans in check.Or Eddie and Venom get used to their life together, while Eddie tries to manage his petulant child.





	Rules

**Author's Note:**

> OK I just desperately wanted more domestic Eddie and Venom after seeing the film so here we are.  
> Will be posting a bunch of one-shot scenes as part of a series! There's definitely going to be smut but I want to have fun building up their relationship first across a few themes.

It didn't take very long after reuniting for Eddie and Venom to establish ground rules around their cohabitation. A whole edifice of rules actually, rules on rules holding up more rules, stacked so high the pile would take them back to the comet Venom came from, if they kept going the way they were. In fact, Eddie thinks to himself, keeping Venom in check has made him realise how very obsessed with rules humans are. Society, he supposes. That's exactly what it is. Rules to keep humans in check.

**YES** , hisses a grumpy gravelly voice in the back of his mind, **THEY ARE POINTLESS. WE DO NOT NEED TO BE KEPT IN CHECK.**

"Shut it, Vee. You chose to stay here. Now you deal with the consequences. I'm not having us end up back in a lab like the one I found you in."

**AS IF THEY COULD CATCH USSSS.** Venom hisses right at the base of his ear, and he swears the little shit just KNOWS it makes a shiver go down his spine. He's sensitive, damnit.

**YES, SENSITIVE. SOFT. SOFT EDDIE THAT WE MUST PROTECT.**

Aaand it's heat that flashes across his face this time instead of a shiver.

 

Ahem, anyway. Rules. It's sort of funny, really, given how much he always thought he hated them. But it turns out that learning to share your every thought with an alien symbiote in a society that for the most part doesn't even believe in their existence isn't that easy. So, they'd agreed on them not only for their own survival, but for Eddie's sanity. Eddie goes over the major rule groups mentally as they make their way to the grocery store (for the third time in two days). Rules at home, in public. Rules between them. Rules about interactions with other humans. They recite them together, somehow having made it a bit of a game. Eddie will look at someone they pass on the street and push an expectant thought Venom's way, and Venom will answer correctly, under the threat of Eddie angsting if he doesn't (turns out fear and self-hate taste just as gross to aliens, yay).

A shifty looking guy bumps into them right on cue. Venom bristles, but offers immediately:

**WE DO NOT KNOW IF THEY ARE A BAD PERSON. WE DO NOT EAT THEM. THEY ARE SIMPLY AN ASSHOLE.**

"Good", Eddie thinks, "And what do we do if someone who might be a good person does something that seems bad?"

**WE WAIT. HUMANS ARE COMPLEX. NOT ALWAYS BAD. NOT ALL ASSHOLES. NOT ALL LOSERS.**

The attempt at humour doesn't go unnoticed, and they both snicker at it internally.

"And what happens when humans think someone isn't playing by the rules?"

**ISOLATION. PUNISHMENT. LAW ENFORCEMENT. NO MORE TATER TOTS OR CHOCOLATE** , recites the symbiote, deep voice a bored drawl before he perks up and adds, **BUT WE SOMETIMES MAKE UP OUR OWN. THAT IS WHY WE ARE A VIGILANTE.**

 

Ah yes that's also a thing. The rules about punishing bad people and the whole vigilante business. They've actually got that one pretty figured out though, as operating outside of the standard set of rules is far easier when you're superpowered by your trusty alien symbiote. And no one can stop you, probably. A bell rings as Eddie pushes open the door to Mrs. Chen's store and Venom takes control, wraps himself around his host's legs to get them faster to the sweets section, jittery with anticipation at the thought of more phenethylamine filled treats. Eddie has to take a second to calm them down, because he definitely just freaked out the other people in the store by striding inhumanely fast past the handful of patrons in there. At least Mrs. Chen doesn't question it after the whole, you know, criminal stopping head biting thing. Just another entry on the list of things about Eddie that exasperate her, most likely.

**WE DID GOOD** , Venom pushes forward in response to the memory of the guy they decapitated in this store, **THAT WAS A BAD MAN.**

Eddie can't help but smile to himself as he piles half a shelf of assorted chocolate into his basket, then tugs at his hoodie a bit to ventilate it. He's still not used to being so warm all the time, as welcome as the all-encompassing presence is.

"I know Vee. We did good. Don't sweat it."

**HAHA. SWEAT IT.  SWEAT. EDDIE YOU'RE ALWAYS SWEATY.**

Eddie swats away a tendril escaping his hoodie to poke at his cheek.

"Fuck off asshole, that's your fault."

The tone is bitter, but the feeling inside them pleasantly bubbles in Eddie's stomach, casting away the doubt of any misunderstanding in their banter. It's so easy to forget that he's talking to himself and people are cautiously avoiding his aisle when Venom captures his attention like this. They do catch Mrs. Chen staring at them quizzically before they walk up to the register though, but that's fair enough, she's been pretty chill about this whole thing considering what happened.

**NO EDDIE, SHE SMELLS OF FEAR.**

Well, ok. At least she tolerates Eddie still coming into the store. The protection he's inadvertently offered her trumps the terror and trauma of watching an alien guzzle up a human head. He hopes.

"Eddie."

The greeting pulls him out of his thoughts - since when did he become such a daydreamer man - **NOT DREAMING. TALKING TO US.** The split second of hesitation brought on by his continuous internal monologue is enough for Mrs Chen to roll her eyes at him again.

"I hope you still have those DVD's I gave you. You need them."

"Sure Mrs. Chen, I'm working on it."

"Clearly not."

She checks out the downright ridiculous assortment of food with an air of silent judgment emanating from her, Eddie jittering nervously and choosing to focus elsewhere, the feeling of hunger starting to creep through him again as Venom grumbles. The anticipation twitches and ripples through him and becomes very much theirs, rather than Venom's, or Eddie's, it's still a little confusing at times.

 

A quick goodbye and they find themselves back out on the street, and Eddie decides (for the 50th time) that after base rules they're going to tackle scheduling so that they don't spend the rest of their life either at the grocery store or on the way there. And he needs a routine back for writing, damnit.

A rumble resonates from his spine to his brain, Venom settling at the base of his neck and spreading inside him over his shoulders, as he often does. Eddie can feel Venom is torn, because on one hand the grocery store is fun, but on the other, there are so many things he wants to do with his host. Everything.

**OUR EVERYTHING,** reminds Venom.

Eddie quickly dismisses that, though he's perfectly aware dismissal is useless. They share everything, after all, but he's found in the past few weeks since they reunited that dismissal is something his symbiote respects. It usually causes him to fall quiet a little while, as if they're both unsure what to do about this particular feeling at this stage. That's fine, they'll get there eventually, even though it does feel a little weird. No relationship is perfect from the get-go.

"Don't even say it."

**BUT**!

"I might be the perfect host, on a physio-biological level, or whatever you wanna call it but we still have plenty of shit to work out."

Venom goes quiet, flicking a few tendrils across the surface of his host's skin before curling up in the back of his mind, at the stem of his brain. Eddie swears he hears a petulant " **EURGH. RULES.** " echoing somewhere, although he doesn't manage to stay silent for long, quickly going back to reciting rules to earn Eddie's praise all the way back home.

 

They make it home in what once would have been record speed, though it's pretty common now for Venom to give them a bit of a kick when there's something he wants ( **FOOD** ). Slivers of black take over more freely now as they enter the apartment, helping Eddie put away all the groceries at the same time and with scary accuracy ( **IT'S A HOUSE RULE. PHYSICAL OBJECTS HAVE ARBITRARY PLACEMENTS ACCORDING TO THEIR FUNCTION** , reminds Venom), and Eddie doesn't even blink twice now at the sight that is their kitchen area webbed in solid yet dripping tendrils, slinking over to the ratty couch and collapsing there with a chocolate bar in hand, waiting for Venom to finish and retreat towards him.

**"IT IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP A HUMAN HOME TIDY, BECAUSE LOSER HUMANS LIKE EDDIE HAVE LANDLORDS WHO INSPECT THE PROPERTY AND KICK LOSERS OUT."**

Eddie groans at Venom reciting out loud his interpretation of the "let's not fuck this place up, get kicked back out on the street, and lose our deposit rule. Or consume anything suspicious in such a way it looks like someone dragged a dead body through the apartment" rule. He's about to retort something when Venom continues:

**"THIS RULE IS IMPORTANT. WE LIKE HOME. WE LIKE HOME WITH EDDIE."**

Eddie sighs and smiles. Venom reminds him of a child sometimes - some goo materialises out of his shoulder at that while the rest of Venom's mass retreats back towards him and slaps him across the face.

"OK Vee, you're like a very dangerous, scary, stubborn, but still sweet child. And children need rules."

Eddie absentmindedly opens the chocolate bar and starts snacking on it while he feels Venom mulling that over, poking through his memories of human children that have popped up to justify the comment. Eddie sniggers as he thinks of some of their earlier arguments over doing what they want and eating brains, and how it reminds him of all the times he's been exasperated at kids acting out in public. More so for the parents, than the kids themselves. Mini humans are real little shits. Like Venom.

**FINE. WE DO NOT ENTIRELY DISAGREE WITH YOUR ASSESSMENT, ALTHOUGH IT IS LACKING.**

Venom materializes over his shoulder, extending a miniature head out and snapping at the candy Eddie's holding up, making discontented sounds as he audibly munches it to tiny pieces with those disturbingly incisive teeth of his.

"I suppose comparing you to a child is unfair. You look after me more than I look after you," offers Eddie.

There's no lie there, and they both know it. Sometimes Eddie says things that don't entirely line up with his thoughts, and Venom understands this now as a quirk of human reasoning. A somewhat faulty coping mechanism. He tries not to push, but sometimes he's curious, especially about Eddie's opinion of him. And Eddie for once generously offers up his reasoning: Venom fixes him, keeps him warm, out of danger, keeps away the bone aching loneliness - but that thought is quickly snatched away. Eddie stuffs his mouth with the rest of the chocolate bar, which encourages Venom to nudge his face, physical reassurance he's learned humans like when faced with thoughts that trouble them.

**WE ARE COMPLETE EDDIE. WE ARE VENOM. NO MORE LONELINESS AS LONG AS WE ARE TOGETHER.**

Eddie reaches up to pet Venom's little head, although in contrast he thinks the gesture is probably useless to the symbiote.

**NOT TRUE. WE APPRECIATE THE COMFORT. WE FEEL YOUR RELIEF. WE LIKE TO BE TOUCHED, ALTHOUGH IT IS NOT NECESSARY.**

Venom pools back down over his host's body as if to prove a point, draping himself over the human flesh and exerting a little pressure as his mass glides down from Eddie's shoulders over his torso, stopping when they jolt in tandem as he reaches the dip between his hips and thighs and their heart rate and body temperature suddenly increases. Eddie's nervously swatting at himself and Venom's melted back into him in a huff, pricking some of his host's nerve ends so that he shivers violently, which both annoys him and cools him down. Best of both worlds.

"VEE. We talked about this," groans the now seriously rattled human, "I don't mind when you take over, but you can't. Do that. Touch me. Without warning. It's not, uh, comfortable."

**BUT WE'VE FELT THIS ONCE BEFORE. WHEN WE REJOINED YOU THROUGH ANNE. IT DOESN'T TASTE LIKE FEAR, OR PAIN. WE THOUGHT IT WAS GOOD.**

Venom brings up their shared memory of the kiss and Eddie blanks. They've somehow avoided the topic until now, because he's always dismissed it as being ticklish and humans having limits about touch. Which isn't a lie.

**BUT IT IS AN OMISSION, EDDIE. WE ARE NOT STUPID. AND WE ARE NOW MORE CURIOUS THAN WE ARE PATIENT.**

"Well yeah ok. Touch feels nice. But you know physical reactions aren't directly linked to rational thoughts. Like how even if I have an adrenaline rush that makes me feel invincible, it doesn't mean I can jump off a building and survive."

**YOU CAN THOUGH, WITH US. SO WHY NOT THIS? DOES IT HAVE TO BE ANNE?**

Eddie groans out loud and throws his head back over the edge of the couch. This is definitely more of a child moment right now.

"It doesn't have to be Anne. Haven't you poked around my head enough yet to know this?"

**WE WERE BEING POLITE, EVEN THOUGH WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY BASE REPRODUCTIVE URGES ARE INTERPRETED AS SO COMPLEX BY YOUR SPECIES.**

Indignant snort. He'd leave it at that, if Venom wasn't already bristling with anticipation now they're talking about it. Tension makes them both uneasy, it tugs on their bond and makes them both restless. He's going to have to suck this one up, but his gut emotional reaction beats his maturity to the punch.

"Woah dude. Fine. Why did you kiss me then, when you were with Anne? If our urges are so base."

**EDDIE. THAT WAS EDDIE.**

"What, no, you asshole, you kissed me. Or she did. Oh fuck, whatever. I swore to myself for Anne's sake not to bring this up."

**NO, NOT WHAT WE MEANT. IT WAS A FEELING OF EDDIE. IN ANNE. WE FELT IT, WANTED IT. COMPLETE HUMAN SYMBIOSIS. BUT IT WASN'T PERFECT LIKE WE ARE. THIS IS WHY WE THOUGHT WE NEEDED ANNE BACK. BUT EDDIE FEELS THIS EVEN WITHOUT ANNE.**

"Ah."

Awkward silence, made super awkward by the fact that he knows Venom is reading exactly how he feels right now. Things that normally he'd struggle to put into words, things he'd ignore for the sake of another person. Venom just... Knows. It's both unfair, and nice, really. Eddie's never been a good talker. Mostly a fuck up in relationships. Pretty selfish.

"Sorry Vee. It's just... I don't think I'm ready to talk about that yet. There's. A difference. Between like... Feelings. And my body reacting to touch. And having you in my head is still... Weird. So, like we said yeah? Ask before you do anything with my body. Or you'll fuck my head up."

**THAT'S OK EDDIE, WE UNDERSTAND. LIKE THIS IS FINE, YES?**

The warm enveloping feeling blankets across Eddie's torso again, and he sighs contentedly. Part of his mind wants to make him feel weird about enjoying a self-symbiote hug, but the rest of it is filled with Venom purring and a strong desire for sleep, so it can fuck off, for the time being.

Eddie's eyes soon flutter closed, and Venom materialises a head again to rest on Eddie's chest, adding a little weight to his embrace, something else he learned from Eddie's memories. There’re other things he's learned from them, more than Eddie realises he understands, but he's happy to let his host treat him like he doesn't understand things so that he doesn't have to deal with the topic himself.

The real child here, Venom decides, is Eddie.

 

\--

When they eventually wake up, it's to an uncomfortable feeling of sticky clothes and a sore neck.

Next on the list is definitely hygiene, a far too awake Eddie mumbles internally, because as comfortable as the constant thrum of heat coursing through his body is, it's going to be more of a pain to incorporate lots of laundry into their schedule.

"You hear that Vee? More rules. You gotta meet me halfway buddy. Only human after all."

Venom pulses, acknowledgment wrapping itself around his organs and bones.

**MORE THAN HUMAN. US. BUT WE UNDERSTAND. HUMAN EDDIE NEEDS RULES. NEEDS COMFORT. WE WILL PROVIDE IT. IN EXCHANGE WE CAN BE WITH EDDIE. BE ONE. AND EAT CHOCOLATE, AND TATER TOTS. AND SOMETIMES BAD HUMANS. YES?**

Eddie feels the corner of his mouth tug upwards.

"Yeah Vee, sure. If you're good, and let me get some work done, maybe we can get a bigger freezer. More tater tots 24/7."

**WE WOULD LIKE THAT.**

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave your thoughts, comments, reviews!  
> I'd love to talk about these two losers with people.
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


End file.
